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Penguins D-Men On the Bubble: Who’s Playing Well, Who’s in Trouble
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- Penguins D-Men On the Bubble: Who’s Playing Well, Who’s in Trouble
Penguins D-Men On the Bubble: Who’s Playing Well, Who’s in Trouble
Just one question can yield a lot of results. Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea is embroiled in the Penguins' overcrowded blue line battle, but for the first time since his arrival with the Penguins, coaches have settled him on his natural left side.
In speaking with PHN this week, Shea subtly agreed that playing on the left unlocks more of his game; after all, he cannot bluntly admit that he's much better on the left. However, that's also the truth for almost all defensemen.
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Shea is battling for ice time on the left side of the Penguins' blue line. Owen Pickering , Ryan Graves , and Parker Wortherspoon are the others; all four could be on the roster, but overcrowding on the right could force one of them off the roster.
Shea sounded quite confident in his performance thus far. He has indeed put his best foot forward, though players in his situation, without big contracts or pedigrees, can never feel too safe.
Throughout his previous two seasons with the Penguins, he happily took whatever assignment was his, but he's also starting to feel that he's finally showing his full skill set.
When D-men have to play on their offside in order to get in the lineup, that's their favorite spot, but given their choice, on their forehand is better.
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"Much better this year, just my mindset," Shea told PHN Sunday. "In past years, you come in and you're thinking 'I have to win that seventh D-man spot,' and you can drive yourself crazy. It's much different this year."
Indeed, Shea, 28, and in his third season with the Penguins organization, has shown an increased confidence in his limited preseason appearances. He moved the puck crisply, skated it well, and looked like a strong defenseman against Columbus on Wednesday. His mobility set up Ben Kindel's goal Monday against Detroit .
Shea also plays with a bit of grit.
While his competition, Ryan Graves, has been up and down in the preseason, Shea has been better than steady; he's made an impact.
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Matt Dumba
The Dallas Stars gave the Penguins a second-round pick to take Matt Dumba and his $3.75 million salary off their hands.
Dallas was a bad stop for Dumba, 31, whose career trajectory has been downward for the last few years. After posting healthy point totals and being seen as a good skating, all-around defenseman, Dumba posted a combined 36 points over the last three seasons, split between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas.
As one of six right-handed defensemen, Dumba knows he's in a fight to avoid waivers and the AHL, but he's also trying to block that possibility out.
"You know, I'm trying not to let my head go to that place, and I'm just trying to think, yeah, you know, if I uh..," Dumba said as his voice trailed off, and that possibility he was trying to avoid seemed to become very real right before this reporter.
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Dumba has had a very good training camp. He is again using his speed and agility to push the play forward and evade forecheckers. In the Penguins' uptempo training camp, his physical skills stood out.
"I'm just I'm focused on myself and just doing the best I can. And do I feel like thus far, I've done a pretty good job of that," Dumba told PHN. "You can kind of get caught up in all that and worry and stuff. And I don't know, I don't know if that's that useful for you. So I mean, I've been just trying to do my thing and keep my head down."
One arrow in Dumba's quiver is the ability to play both sides. It's one shared by Shea, whom former coach Mike Sullivan often used on the right due to a lack of right-handed defenders worthy of the NHL roster.
Dumba played quite a bit on the left side during his 18-game stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning (traded from Minnesota at the trade deadline) in 2023-24 before signing a two-year deal with Dallas.
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"I haven't been in this spot in a while. But I think it's good to think back to those early days and what that felt like, and understanding that, I have experience now and I've been through it," Dumba said. "It's part of it. You have over 700-plus games (737) in the league, you kind of get into that realm. So there's much older on this team."
After the serious moment, Dumba had a little laugh, realizing he is seven years younger than the Penguins' oldest defenseman ( Kris Letang ), and four years younger than Erik Karlsson . It was a necessary light moment.
However, the decision to keep him on the NHL squad or waive him is not entirely based on his play. Connor Clifton has also played well, and Harrison Brunicke is the future on the blue line. And only one or two of them can make it.
Both Shea and Dumba can play on the opposite side. While Sullivan espoused a strong preference for the left-right combination, coach Dan Muse wouldn't go there on Monday before departing for Detroit.
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"Nah, I just want six really good defensemen. It's whatever the best fit is. And honestly, I feel like — I wouldn't lock that in that it has to be (left-right)," Muse said. "It makes some parts of (the game) a little bit more natural, but there are instances of guys that can also be very impactful playing their offside."
The Penguins' overcrowding has several possible solutions, and none may be permanent. For example, Harrison Brunicke can play nine NHL games but be returned to juniors if they don't go well–thus creating a need for Clifton or Dumba.
Connor Clifton
If depth is the deciding factor, Dumba would seem to have an edge on his competition because of his ability to play on the left, just as Shea would have an edge in the competition on the left side because he can play on the right.
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However, Clifton brings something else to the party.
Last season, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Clifton played in 73 games with Buffalo. Point totals aren't Clifton's thing, as his career high is 23, but he posted over 200 hits in each of the last three campaigns.
Physicality is something in short supply on the Penguins' blue line, and in three preseason games, Clifton displayed that physical edge in abundance.
"For sure. I mean, that's exactly what I wanted to bring out–that third pair physicality. Playing against third and fourth lines a majority of th time, they're going to they're going to finish their hits, so I try to match that," Clifton told PHN. "But you know, coming into camp, it's a new team, new coach. I'm just excited for the opportunity."
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Clifton is in the last year of a three-year deal with a $3.3 million salary cap hit, and Dubas also got a second-round pick from Buffalo as he dealt the rights to Conor Timmins to Buffalo for the pick and Clifton.
What comes next is yet unknowable. Dubas intentionally overpacked his roster, acquiring both Clifton and Dumba via trades but also promising an NHL spot to any young player who pushed for it.
There are two preseason games, and two more opportunities to show they belong, on the right or left, or in the hit column, but everyone is trying not to think about what comes next.
The post Penguins D-Men On the Bubble: Who's Playing Well, Who's in Trouble appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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